She spoke with Professor Melissa Fisher about, among other things, “how to make the workplace more female-friendly, the attitude toward the new generation of Wall Street women and whether it’s apt to say the financial crisis wouldn’t have happened if the firm had been called “Lehman Sisters.”

Here are excerpts from their conversation:

Deal Journal: As you discussed on your panel, some believe women are more conservative and risk-averse than men, and think that had more women filled top leadership roles, the financial crisis may have unfolded differently. But to accept that argument means accepting the premise that women do have these different intrinsic qualities. How do you reconcile that with the idea that women should be treated the same as men in this industry?

Melissa Fisher: It’s not purely biological, nor is it purely psychological. It’s more about socialization – women are brought up to inhabit these certain kinds of qualities. It may be there is a connection between being risk-averse and being a woman. But the bottom line is it’s not about women; it’s about systems of power. The important thing is realizing that these are culturally-constructed systems and can be overturned because of the cultural consciousness that’s being raised.

DJ: You talked about the growing awareness of homosociality, the tendency of people to hire others who look and act like them. So in Wall Street’s case, that means fewer women getting promoted. But is recognizing that this phenomenon exists enough to help combat it? If this is an innate practice, how do you overcome it?

MF: It’s really hard to completely wield power over culture, because these are ingrained practices. These are broader economic systems and you need a large number of women to at least begin to pressure them, to push them to a point of rupture.

DJ: So a few women getting top posts isn’t going to upend these systems?

MF: No, you need many. Also, if you look at some of the policies in the workplace meant to be accommodating to women, you’ll see that the intent is good, but in practice it’s a different story. For example, with flex-time, men are not the ones taking flex-time. Even with these policies in place, you still have the culture. An actual shift may not take place because you still have a stronger, informal culture prevailing over a formal rule.